Great thread, Joanna. Brilliant idea and thank you (a gentile salute I hope )

I am so delighted that you achieved a distinction. Good stuff. But I feel the need to question "we finally have our woodburning stove nearly installed." Nearly installed? Sounds like "a little bit pregnant" to me

While I am it, what does Human Ecology encompass? That is a genuine question, not a banter wind-up comment.

Mutley – good stuff achieved today. Sounds like you found free raw material that you can turn around for a profit. A great result/

In my case I feel upbeat because i have a new boss. The previous guy was a genius but he could not delegate. It made me feel like a loose and useless appendage / tool. Very demoralising. The new guy appears to know nothing about my area of speciality, so that enables me to shine a little. At least in these early days.

Oh, Danuta, i strongly believe that being truly appreciated (as opposed to simple / stupid flattery) is the most important aspect of any rewards system. Money comes a distant second.

I hate the overused management-speak term "key" but I will use it once in this regard. The "key" aspect in keeping one's people happy and productive is genuine appreciation, in my opinion.

The difficult bit is "genuine".

I have known team members in the past who craved appreciation but who simply did not deserve it. They were the most difficult of all to manage or to deal with. Um as simply requested better pay or T&C were easier to handle. That was more black and white/